Car coupler



G. M. MURPHY July 17, 1934.

CAR COUPLER Filed Sept. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l y 1934- G. M. MURPHY 1,966,765

CAR COUPLER Filed Sept. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i atented July 17, 1934 SIMTESZ to The Buckeye Columbns,-. Ohid.

Steel Castings Company;

Application September 4', 1931', Serial No. 561,243

5 Glai-msa' r invention relafteseto improvements in .car couplers, and more particularly to means for re storing;v ccuplers to gauge.

Couplers in: service: are continually checked gior gaugef, andxdueto present day service conditions--ot;longer trains and heavier cars, it has been found that couplers. reach the, gauging limit in;a-.short period of. time. By the.ter 1 n gauge? ismeant the distance ina horizontal.plane be tween vthernoseo-f-the knuckle and the guard arm faceof the couplerhead. When thegauge passes thesepo-ints; ,the coupler must, be removed from service accordingto the A. R. A; rules,- and cars are notacc'epted inv interchange with couplers out-of gauge. I

instead of. scrapping. the couplers when they.-

arenotbadlygworn, but outof gaugait has been customary. for; railroads" to restore .thecoupler togauge by buildingup by meansot welding thelcck bearing. face of the knuckle. Obviously, metal at thislocation places the. nose; of.- the knuckle closer to the guard arm face. Other means; are also. resorted;tn inorder'to. restore the gauge. somea railroads-preferring; to insert knuckle, which is s9 constructedthatin'aworn coupler, thenos'ewilt bescloser than usual tothe guard a'rm.-face-.., Others. prefer to thickenthe IOQkjthS' restore thegauge;

ing of; new parts" which are relatively expensive:

restoring; WOTIIKCOHIQlEIS-iflf either the A. R. A. type D or E, to gauge. Similar means for restoring couplers to gauge may be used on other :types of couplers.

With the foregoing object outlined and with other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereafter described in detail, 5.;illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a top plan View partly in horizontal gmsection of an assembled coupler head with my improved gauge restor ng means in place.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Figs. 3, and 4 are vertical sectional views taken respectively on the lines 3-3 and 4--4 of Fig. 1,

and with the coupler knuckle and lock omitted.

a. new. knuckle known. as. a; compensating.

The above-rnethods-willrestore the couplers to gauge, but involve either the expensive operation oibui'lding up parts by welding, .orthe purchase The: primary objeetiof the present; invention to provide an economical and efifective means of Fig. 5"."18.ELI'ITGIBVEFtiOHAOfLthB improved shims which I. have. designed-for: gauge. restoring purai poses.

Fig. 6 isnnzedge view of. thezsame'.

Referring. to. the drawings, IOY'lS. aconven- 9a: tional coupler head: having; the: usual knuckle 11: mounted on; a.pivot pin.11a,. and l2aisithe' customary lock. At 13 isemyi improved/metal shim. which can be inserted: intowthe coupler headuafter the couplerissworn orxjust aitcr the-65;; couplerv hassbeen in service long enough. for the. coupler'andlcck to. takevbe'aring,.that;is,. itfiisw unnecessary. to .wait' untilrthe' coupler isioutr ot gauge: for. the shim. 13' to: be: inserted- The shim, as best shownin- Figs. 5. and fijs of 7d such; shape that. it can be readi-lya inserted and retained irrtlrecoupler-head; and l-prefer to h'ave:

it ofzsuch. design. that iti can beinsertedwhen the I knuckle-andlockare removed; atswhich timeit can be introduced through the frontiopening wa ts! of tHETCOllIJlEDhEEd, and then be loweredinto the lock: hole 10b: Afterwards, it. is. raisedto its properJposi-tion, asshown in Figs; 1 .t0"4: i1l01l1$l62: Any suitable may be; employedior securing. theshi'mr. in place-,:. but I. prefer-to have itliear 80. against thenoupler head by .ancinclined shoulder; asrshown at 1.30: toaprevent downward. movement. The upper end; of; the shiin is: provided with .a. lip-:13h-;-which projectsaat right angles touthezface of the shim; and; abuts againsta verticalfiange-ss. 13d within; the. head to prevent: lateral-J movement. The; lower end of: the ishim is provi'dedwith a. depending lipiortongue. IBcWhiclncanibea bent :outwardnnd'upwardzabout the lower portion; of the-,headitovprevenh theashimirom' raisingzigo aiter it is. in place"; i By Ieierringsto .Fig: .lsit wi llcbe; notedsthatnther knuckle 11 rotates about the pivot pin 11a, and when a pull is exerted on the nose 111), the tail 110 of the knuckle bears against the lock 12, 95.5

which in turn would normally bear against the wall 100 of the coupler head. However, the shim 13 is positioned between the lock and this wall and functions as an abutment to limit the movement of the look toward said wall, so that the me. nose 11b of the knuckle is prevented from moving away from the face 10d of the guard arm to as great an extent as it could if the shim was omitted.

It will also be noted from Fig. 1 that A indi- 105? cates the normal position of the knuckle nose, the dotted line B the worn limit of the knuckle nose out of gauge, and the full line C the position of the knuckle nose when the shim 13 is applied to a coupler that is only slightly worn. When the knuckle is in position 3", or out of gauge, it may be brought to normal position, or when at position A, it may be brought to position C by inserting the shim 13.

From Fig. 6 it may be seen that the upper end of the shim is tapered at 20, so as to reduce its thickness toward the top, and this is for the purpose of allowing clearance for the lock 12 when it is raised in the chamber 106. 7

While I have disclosed what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of the invention in such manner that the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, I am aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.

What I claim and desireto secure by Letters.

Patent is:

1. A car coupler including a coupler head, a knuckle pivotally connected to the head, a lock arranged in the head and cooperating with the knuckle, said head being provided with an opening and a cavity, and a shim arranged in the head between said lock and a wall'of the cavity for limiting swinging movement of the knuckle in one direction, said shim comprising a piece of metal which is substantially flat and of substantially triangular shape, the upper end of the shim being wider than the lower end of the same and being supported by portions of the inner surface of said head, said shim being provided with a lip at its upper end projecting substantially at right angles to a face of the shim, said lip cooperating with a projection on the coupler head to hold the shim in vertical plane.

2. A car coupler including a coupler head having a cavity therein provided with projecting portions, a knuckle member pivotally connected to the head, a lock member arranged in the cavity and cooperating with the knuckle member, and a shim arranged in the cavity and cooperating with said members for limiting opening movement of the knuckle member in one direction, said shim comprising a piece of metal which is substantally flat and of substantially triangular shape, the upper end of the shim being wider than the lower end of the same, and said wider upper end resting on the projections in the cavity for holding the shim in said head, and means for holding the shim in a vertical plane.

3. A car coupler including a coupler head, a knuckle pivotally connected to the head, a lock arranged in the'head and cooperating with the knuckle, said head being provided with an opening, and a shim insertable into the head through said opening and being arranged between one side of the lock and an inner surface of the head for limiting the swinging movement of the knuckle in one direction, said shim comprising a piece of metal which is substantially fiat and of triangular shape, the upper end of the shim being wider than the lower end of the same and resting on portions of the inner surface of the head to prevent the shim from dropping downwardly in the coupler head, said shim being provided with a lip at its upper end projecting substantially at right angles to a face of the shim, said lip cooperating with a portion of an inner surface of the coupler head to hold the shim in vertical position.

4; A car coupler including a coupler head, a knuckle member pivotally connected to the head, a lock member arranged in the head and cooperating with the knuckle member, said head being provided with an opening, and a shim insertable into the'head through said opening and arranged to cooperate with said members for limiting swinging movement of the knuckle member in one direction, said shim comprising a piece of metal which is substantially flat and of substantially triangular shape, the upper end of the shim being wider than the lower end of the same and being provided with a lip projecting substantially at right angles to the face of the shim, said lip engaging a portion of an inner surface of the head for holding the shim in vertical position, the edge of the shim opposite that from which the lip projects being provided with a shoulder resting on another portion of an inner surface of the head for limiting downward movement of the shim within the head.

5. A car coupler including a coupler head, a knuckle member pivotally connected to the head, a lock member arranged in the head and cooperating with the knuckle member, said head being provided with an opening, and a shim insertable into the head through said opening and so arranged as to cooperate with said members for limiting the swinging movement of the knuckle member in one direction, said shim comprising a piece of metal which is substantially fiat and of substantially triangular shape, the upper end of the shim being wider than the lower end of the same and resting on portions of internal surfaces of the head for limiting downward movement of the shim within the head, said shim being provided at its upper end with a lip projecting substantially at right angles to a face of the shim I and engaging a portion of the inner surface of the head for holding the shim in vertical position, and a bendable tongue projecting from the lower end of the shim and hooked about a portion of the head to limit upward movement of the shim.

- GEORGE M. MURPHY. 

